How to converse with clients through Twitter

When you first explore the world of social media, you might begin with Twitter. Twitter was huge during the last presidential election, and it has continued to be widely used by news outlets and celebrities worldwide.

So what is Twitter, really? It’s technically a form of micro-blogging in a short format, using 140 or fewer characters to answer the question, “What’s happening?” A lot of people wonder why anyone uses Twitter—who cares what’s happening in someone else’s world? Well, Twitter is much more than just a bunch of random answers to that single question. Twitter is actually a conversation. In fact, Twitter is made up of millions of conversations streaming through a single online portal.

Once you start following “tweeps,” you’ll begin to piece those conversations together. Why is that important? Follow this real conversation, started by one of our clients on a Saturday afternoon. By clicking the link, I was able to go and look at the client’s photo of his new dog. I could then reply:

rlsims: Our new family member is home from @IndyHumane! http://tweetphoto.com/9392466

BRACpet: @rlsims How cute!!! Little boy or girl…and what’s the name?

By using the @ symbol in front of my client’s Twitter handle, he was able to quickly see that I was speaking directly to him. He responded several minutes later with this response:

rlsims: Girl and her name is Kaia. @BRACpet: @rlsims How cute!!! Little boy or girl…and what’s the name?

The client reposted my question and answered it. This let others know what question he was answering. It also did something very special: It showed all of his followers that his veterinary clinic was having a conversation with him and was interested in his new dog.

The client posted a few more cute photos and we continued our conversation. Once you realize people are actually talking to one another, the conversations are fairly easy to follow.

When I showed this thread to our team members in our weekly staff meeting, one client service representative exclaimed, “You mean you talk to our clients through Twitter?” Yes, I do. And when I do, hundreds—or even thousands—of others can see that conversation and will hopefully think to themselves, “Wow, there’s a veterinary practice that really cares about its clients and patients. That’s what I’m looking for!”